Raymond & Ray Parent Guide

Raymond (Ewan McGregor) and his half-brother, Ray (Ethan Hawke) don’t see much of each other - until Raymond shows up on Ray’s doorstep to tell him their long-estranged father, Harris (Tom Bower) has died. Since their father the main reason they don’t see much of each other, there’s some debate as to whether Ray will even go to the funeral, but since Raymond has a suspended license and Ray is his only chance of a ride, the debate doesn’t last long.

Once they reach the funeral home, the brothers learn that Harris has several strange requests in his will, including that he be buried naked and that his sons dig the grave…by hand. As Raymond and Ray set to digging, they meet a few of the people their father knew in his later years: Lucia (Maribel Verdu), a lover; Kiera (Sophie Okonedo), a nurse; and his pastor, Reverend West (Vondie Curtis-Hall). Talking with others about their experiences with Harris reveals a conflicting, confusing, and generally complex picture of a man who Raymond and Ray both come to realize they knew little about.

To say this family is dysfunctional would be a gross understatement. I can’t get into the reasons for Harris’s estrangement from his sons, as the discovery and exploration of these issues is key to the plot and character development - but yikes. Big yikes. There’s a lot going on here, and almost none of it is suitable for a family audience. I mean these issues were enough to completely alienate most of this fictional family, so that ought to tell you something. There’s also a bit more profanity than you’d probably like, although given the context, I’m willing to make some exceptions. If you were dealing with half of the stuff Harris’s family are struggling with, I wouldn’t expect you to be on your best linguistic behaviour either.

Despite strong emotional performances from Hawke and McGregor (as expected), Raymond and Ray struggles. It makes interesting personal revelations almost as often as it proudly presents trite truisms and doesn’t seem aware of the difference between the two. I’m not even entirely sure how I feel about the film. It’s as if I’ve been swallowed by the gulf between the movie’s successes and its missteps. There’s more than enough intriguing character work to hold your attention – whether or not it’s enough to keep you entertained through the slower patches, though, is up to you.